A Walk On The Beach
by mikachoo
Summary: Jack saved her...and Kate wants to know why. Set after Left Behind. Short sweet oneshot.


For the first time in her life, Kate experienced déjà vu.

She was walking across the beach and she saw Jack sitting in the sand, staring at out at the ocean. He was wearing that white shirt, rolled up to the elbows like he did all those months ago, when they first crashed. How innocent they'd all been then, of each other. So much had happened between now and then…sometimes she wished they could go back, to how things were before. When he was just Jack and she was just Kate and there was nothing hanging in between them. Like the kiss. And the net. And now, what she did with Sawyer.

He knew.

Sighing, she turned away. But then she caught sight of Juliet, standing watching her from across the camp. It irritated her, that knowing smile that twitched around the blonde woman's mouth. Bitch.

Just to spite her, she walked over to Jack, just like she might have about three months ago. But she didn't sit down. How things had changed – it was too awkward for her to do something so familiar.

"You want to go for a walk?"

He looked up at her, startled out of his reverie by her voice.

"Uh…sure."

She smiled at him, still unsure of what she was doing, and turned to walk down the beach. Away from camp, away from everyone, away from Juliet and her stupid smirk.

Jack followed her, and they walked beside each other in silence. She remembered a time when they'd done just this, walked along the beach together. Only then they'd been walking close – bumping into each other's shoulders, hips. Not really caring.

It was an unspoken rule now - she dared not touch him, or walk closer.

"Interesting week."

"Yeah."

"You know, a couple of weeks ago, I didn't think we'd ever get out of that place."

"Me neither."

She was glad to be talking to him again, even if he wasn't really talking back.

"That place where they kept you…where was it exactly? It took ages to walk there from where Sawyer and I were."

She couldn't help but notice that he looked at the ground when she said Sawyer's name, kicking the sand a little as he walked.

"I think it was underwater. It was like an aquarium. The table, in the room…I think it was for examining dolphins or something."

"Dolphins?" She laughed a little. He smiled.

"Yeah, dolphins."

"Well, they kept bears in our cages. Tom said so."

She was surprised to find that they'd walked pretty far along the beach – the camp was out of sight.

It was now or never, she realised. To say what she'd really intended to all along.

She reached out and grabbed his arm, surprising both of them with that sudden contact. They stopped.

"Jack, why did you really ask me not to come back?"

Juliet had told her. But she refused to believe her. Not unless…not unless Jack told her, himself.

He sighed and tried to turn away, but she yanked him back.

"Kate…"

"Please, Jack. Why did you do all this? Even after..." Her composure failed her then. It was so hard, to get the words out. But she had to say them. She had to. "Even after you saw me and Sawyer."

"How did you—"

"Juliet told me. But still, you did it. Saved us. You risked your life for us Jack…for me. Why?"

He looked at her for a few seconds, until neither of them could bear looking anymore.

He looked away, out at the ocean, his brow furrowed in thought. And suddenly he laughed. She looked up at him, surprised, and he turned back to her smiling.

"You really don't know?" He said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Oh but she did! She did know now. Just looking into his eyes, she could see it. But what surprised her most was that it had been there all along – she'd just been too blind to realise it.

As minutes before it had been unbearable to touch him, now it was unbearable not to.

She reached out and pulled him down to her, until his lips were on hers again. Again. It felt nice to say that, in her head. But her last impulsive kiss had led to disaster.

But she wouldn't let it happen. Not again.

She pulled him closer, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. She could feel him slipping, giving in to her…

"Kate no." He pushed her away. "What about Sawyer?"

"What about _Sawyer_? Jack, you don't really think…I thought he was going to die. Pickett wanted to kill him. I just… I don't know. You can't think I actually meant it, could you?"

"What was I supposed to think?"

Her heart broke for him then. He sounded so confused, and she could see the hurt in his eyes. Hurt she'd caused, because she'd been foolish enough to think that there wouldn't be consequences for sleeping with Sawyer.

"I'm tired of you messing me around Kate." He turned away from her, and started to walk back up to the camp. Desperation seized her.

"Wait!" She grabbed him again, desperate for him not to leave. "Don't go, please! I'm sorry." She was crying now. God, she was crying. When she'd sworn to herself she'd keep composed throughout the whole thing.

"So am I."

She knew what would happen next. He'd leave, and she'd spend the next few hours sitting on the beach, wondering where they'd gone wrong. But she didn't want that to happen. She couldn't let it happen.

She kissed him again. It was the only thing she could think of to get him to stay. But he pulled away, again.

"Kate, stop. I know you didn't mean it last time." She kept her mouth centimetres from his, watching how he trembled. He was protesting, but she barely heard it.

"Didn't I?"

"You were upset Kate, I was there. That's it."

"No, it's not. I was upset, you were there, and I kissed you. Because…" she kissed his lips softly. "…I wanted to."

He froze for a second, not quite realising what she'd said. And then it hit him, and he kissed her.

Oh god, he was kissing her. And she thought she'd never been happier in her life. The terror she'd felt earlier, preparing herself to say this – gone. Now it seemed so easy. But it was hard to think straight, with Jack's soft lips on hers, and his arms pulling her tight against his warm, hard chest…

They both broke away, gasping for air, leaning against each other's foreheads.

"What do we do know?"

"I don't know."

And honestly, she didn't. Whenever she thought about what they'd say back at camp, how she'd explain to Sawyer…it just made everything complicated. But they'd figure something out. Because she knew Jack loved her.

And she knew that she loved him.

**Just a short fic to give me some respite from If Only. It was getting pretty intense here! You have no idea how long it took me to get their escape right.**

**Anyway, I hope you liked it! Its sort of set after Left Behind, I think…**


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